Home Sweet Home

When I step outside it smells like home; a bit musty, faintly tainted by pluff mud and paper mill, with a hint of salt from the sea. Home. I always forget the stress release I get by just stepping off the small commuter plane onto the tarmac and smelling the sweet smell of home.

I like living abroad. I like being able to go see things I have never seen before, travel to towns that are unfamiliar, and meeting people that I would never have the chance to meet had my husband not joined the military. However, there is no feeling quite like coming back to the familiar after months or years of being away. Navigating roads that still feel like the back of your hand despite the new construction around them makes me happy. Shopping in familiar surroundings and knowing exactly where to find exactly what I need is comforting. Knowing that the intersection of Sam Rittenburg Bullivard and Highway 61 is going to be an absolute nightmare at 5pm snaps me back into my previous life; the life before I married my military man and we embarked upon our adventures.

Of course now we are in real life. A life where our little girls get funny looks because of their semi-English accents, not because an English accent isn't desirable, but just unexpected in these parts. A life where despite feeling at home here, I can feel at home anywhere.

Competition Time

How would you like to win a Merlin Annual Pass? This pass will let you get into such parks as Thorpe Park, Legoland, Madame Tussuades, Alton Towers, Chessington World of Adventure or Warwick Castle for the next year! How do you win? To win guess which park the photo on this page was take at and leave a comment. The correct guesses will be added to the pot between all the other blogs that are taking part in this event and a winner will be selected. There are not very many blogs taking part so your chances are pretty good. This is part of The Suns 2 for 1 Days Out Challenge.

What park was this photo taken at?

(yes it is supposed to be scrambled)

Your choices are:

· Thorpe Park

· Chessington World of Adventures

· Alton Towers

· Legoland

· Warwick Castle

· Madame Tussuads

· Lego Discovery Centre

Good Luck to all!

*I was compensated to run this competition.

LaLa is Smarter Than Me or Why I Am Eating Humble Pie

For weeks now LaLa has been telling me that the largest number in the world is "gram" and I kept saying "No, the largest number is infinity" and then she would go on to insist that it was "gram". Well, tonight I thought I would prove her wrong and show her that I was right and "gram is a unit of measure not a number" by using Professor Google. Have you ever seen a woman eat humble pie? Let me paint you the scene of what happened at the Bungalow.

As I was all high and mighty, I Googled, "what is the highest number in the world?", only have "Graham's number" pop up on my screen and my jaw HIT THE GROUND. Apparently the word infinity is not actually a number at all, just a describing term. Also apparently, Graham's number is not actually the largest number (since you could technically just add one) but it is the largest number that can mathematically be calculated (but not by us mere mortals only superhuman mathematicians).

So, she was as right as a six year old can be and I was wrong. Now, I must go finish my humble pie.

Dear So and So...Summer Holidays

Dear My Lovely Children,

No, I am not above bribing you. If it gets your room clean and I don't have to touch it I will PAY you, seriously.

So Sick of Cleaning, Mom

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Dear Girls,

Quit screaming in the house. My ears and patience can't take it.

Love, Mom

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Dear My Spawn,

Wii is an optional activity. Get my drift?

Love, Mom

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Dear My Heathens,

We have 6 weeks of this. Thank goodness we will be in the states for 3 of those weeks.

*deep calming breath* Mom

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Dear Readers,

If you have letters please link up! I hope you have a wonderful and safe weekend.

Big Hugs and Kisses, Kat

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Hoooooot! (hot not hoot for the record)

It has been so hot here for the past couple of days. Me and the girls sleeping in our knickers (don't you internet pervs get any ideas.) (My house is hard to find.) (I have a guard dog named Elizabeast...she's ferocious.)

(see?) (grrr, bark, woof!)

(She actually mauled a pizza man once.) (Not really.)(She just scared him by barking..through the door.) (I didn't even know he had come to the house.) (And he ran away...back to Dominos.) (And I had to call to find out when I was going to get my damn pizza.) (They had to send out a different pizza man.) (You would think that pizza men would be immune to dogs.) (Apparently not.)

So, where was I? Oh yeah it is really hot and I am really really happy that it is supposed to rain buckets tonight!

"Mummy"

I was laying on my bed, my husband asleep next to me around 10 Friday morning. I wasn't sleeping, just laying there. My kids were at school. The house was quiet, for once. Relaxation. From behind me I heard a little girl say, "Mummy". Remember, my kids are at school. The hairs on my arm and neck stood on end and I turned around to see nothing at the doorway behind me. I know what I heard though. Someone or rather something said "Mummy".

I have now tried to rationalize this whole experience because for one, I spend a lot of time at home alone, at night. Also, I really have an active imagination. So here are possible explanations I have come up with to sooth myself. The cat meowed and it just sounded weird. Well, this doesn't work unless my cat has learned the ability to speak with an English accent. Last I checked he hadn't. The other explanation I came up with is that maybe I was half asleep. Only, I wasn't half asleep. I didn't even have my eyes shut.

Creepy.

Dear So and So...Letter to the Girls

Dear LaLa and KiKi,

You're getting so big. I can hardly believe it. There have been so many milestones in the last couple of weeks and I don't know if I am ready for them.

KiKi today is your last day of nursery school. Next year you will be a big girl in primary school! You have become so confident in yourself in the past year that it is a bit overwhelming. Next year you will be in school with your sister! You even get to wear a uniform just like her! How cool is that?

La, your first wiggly tooth!! Keep wiggling it because I see your big tooth coming in behind it! How exciting. I bet you just can't wait for the tooth fairy! I hope she brings you something nice!

Both of you are so special. I love you with all my heart and can't wait for this summer holiday to begin.

Love Always, Mom

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Dear Readers,

So what is the going tooth fairy rate?

Love, Kat

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